Meet our featured Ecohero, Bluegrass Restaurant! If you haven’t eaten here, you’re missing out on amazing food from a local gem. Chef Jim Lederer spoke with us about why they compost, buy local and how they’re reducing takeout waste.

Bluegrass was one of the first restaurants to enroll in the HP Composts program in 2018 and is still composting onsite today. Owner/Chef Jim Lederer has been a prominent voice in the HP dining scene for many years and knows first-hand how much food waste is generated in a kitchen, especially when making food from scratch. Chef Lederer tells us that Bluegrass participates in the program because it is the right thing to do and it’s important to many of his customers. They started by increasing their recycling and began to compost food scraps from the kitchen with guidance from the city program; and they continue to do so today. They also source many of their products from local purveyors and have been “farm to table” long before it was popular. The vegetarian options aren’t just salads either:  a vegetable jambalaya, an Asian noodle bowl and the Beyond burger offer a hearty meat-free dinner or lunch. Guests can enjoy libations from craft breweries and wineries from all over America, with many beers coming from Midwest brewers. 

Bluegrass gets high marks for reducing waste on takeout orders. When placing your order, they’ll ask if you want utensils or bread and butter instead of automatically packing these extras that may end up tossed out. The containers can be washed out and reused many times, then recycled when you’re done. Chef Lederer said that thanks to the tremendous support of residents throughout COVID, they were able to retain all of their staff and look forward to preparing more flavor-packed meals for you and your family in the future.